NEUQUA VALLEY MEN'S CROSS COUNTRYTRACK & FIELD

On Friday night, there was finally a break in the otherwise cold and rainy weather for the DuPage Valley Conference Outdoor Championships. Our Varsity team took 2nd place to Naperville Central and our Frosh-Soph team took 3rd place.

In the throwing events, our throwers continue to show incredible progress and depth. In the Frosh-Soph Discus, Elijah Darden (So.) threw 129' 7", a personal best, to win the meet after coming back from injury, and Martin Kiefer (Fr.) took 4th with a throw of 114' 08". At the Varsity level, Matt Appel (Jr.) threw 171' 8", a personal best, for the win and was just over 2 feet from the school record. Matt's mark is well beyond the State Qualifying Mark in the Discus. Moving up a level for this meet was Hunter Danton (So.), who took 2nd with a throw of 150' 4" and was only a few feet away from the State Qualifying Mark with this personal best throw. In the Shot Put, Elijah Darden would return to throw 39' 11" and take 5th place with another personal best. In the Varsity Shot Put, Matt Appel took home another meet victory, another personal best and another mark surpassing the State Qualifying Mark with his throw of 55' 10". Matt was followed closely by Jacob Remack (Sr.) who threw 48' 1" to take 2nd place and Hunter Danton who took 4th place with another personal best of 46' 10".

In the vertical jumps, three of our Sophomores, Goutham Baskaran (So.), Jailen Poole (So.) and Jonathan Martinez (So.) took 2nd, 3rd and 6th places respectively in the Frosh-Soph Pole Vault with jumps of 11' 4", 10' 4" and 9' 4". Goutham and Jailen's marks were personal bests. Jonathan also placed 5th in the Frosh-Soph High Jump with a personal best jump of 5' 3". In the Varsity Pole Vault, Alex Kiefer (Sr.) won the event with an outdoor personal best of 13' 8" while Trevor Lambert (Sr.) took 4th with a jump of 13' 2, also a personal best.

In the horizontal jumps, Jailen Poole (So.) jumped 19' 11.25" for the win in the Frosh-Soph Long Jump, giving him a personal best and staked his claim as the top Neuqua Valley Long Jumper. Ethan Thomas (So.) took 4th with a jump of 18' 9". In the Varsity Long Jump, EJ Oketona (So.) took 3rd place with a personal best jump of 19' 8.75" and Alex Kiefer (Sr.) jumped 19' 2.75, which was good enough for 5th place. In the Frosh-Soph Triple Jump, Daniel Shin (So.) took 4th with a personal best jump of 36' 9.25". The Varsity Triple Jump would see EJ Oketona take 3rd with a jump of 41' 4" and yet another PR. Abood Armouti (Jr.) returned to competition after a slight hamstring issue to take 6th place with a mark of 39' 5".

On the track, the action got started with two distance relays. The Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay team of Daniel Gutierrez (So.), Luke Suman (So.), Luke Mennecke (So.) and Kevin Saju (So.) took 3rd in a time of 8:57.73 and showed that there is still some room for improvement with pacing. In the Varsity 4 x 800 m relay, Max Mitchell (Fr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), Michael Madiol (Sr.) and Michael O'Connor (Sr.) ran 8:04.90, with both Michaels running sub 1:58 splits, giving the team their season best time. Michael O'Connor would later run the open 800 m at the Varsity level and took 3rd in a time of 1:58.76, giving Michael an impressive double for the evening.

In the Frosh-Soph 4 x 100 m , Ethan Briones (So.), Daniel Shin (So.), Kieran Tharbs (Fr.), and Jailen Poole (So.) ran 45.94 to take 3rd in a season best time. The same relay members later reunited for a conference championship tie with Metea Valley in the 4 x 200 m relay with a time of 1:38.85. In the Varsity 4 x 100 m, Max Rivera (So.), Patrick Hoffman (Jr.), Michael Grawe (Sr.) and Christian Allen (So.) took 2nd in a time of 44.37 even with a few small mistakes in the exchanges. The Varsity team would also return later in the meet for another 2nd place in the 4 x 200 m relay in a time of 1:33.20. One of the Varsity sprint relay members, Christian Allen (So.) would also take 5th place in both the Varsity 100 m Dash and the Varsity 200 m Dash with marks of 11.45 and 23.68, both personal bests for Christian.

Returning to the distance events, Stephen Smilie (So.) and Aidan Stone (So.) both turned in personal best marks in the Frosh-Soph 3200 m with times of 10:00.24 and 10:00.74, respectively. In the Varsity 3200 m, Matt Jett (Sr.) took 2nd place, with a personal best time of 9:45.16. Later in the meet, the 1600 m would see more personal bests and top places as Vasant Fong (So.) took 3rd in 4:41.68, which is a season best, and Noah Schalliol (So.) took 4th in 4:42.62, which is also a personal best. At the Varsity level, Michael Madiol (Sr.) took 4th in 4:23.51, after running in the 4 x 800 m relay, combining for a solid double. Chris Keeley (Sr.) took 5th in 4:26.04, which is a personal best and shows that Chris is making huge progress after a lingering injury.

Enoch Kim (So.) placed in both the Frosh-Soph 110 m High Hurdles and the Frosh-Soph 300 m Intermediate Hurdles, taking 5th and 6th places respectively, with times of 17.22 and 45.32. Both of these marks are personal bests for Enoch. The Varsity hurdle events saw the return of Donovan Turner (Sr.) to competition after a hamstring injury. Because Donovan did not have a seed time from the season, he raced from the slow heat to win both Varsity hurdle events, running 15.08 in the 110 m High Hurdles and 41.32 in the 300 m Intermediate Hurdles.

The middle distance or long sprint events had Leif Anderson (So.) making a big move of the second lap of the Frosh-Soph 800 m to take 3rd in an outdoor personal best time of 2:09.75. Ethan Thomas (So.) would make a similar move in the Frosh-Soph 400 m Dash, where Ethan placed 6th in a time of 54.32, which is a personal best and earned him a spot on the sectional roster. The night closed with a 4th place finish from the Frosh-Soph 4 x 400 m relay team of Ethan Briones (So.), Ethan Thomas (So.), Brandon Do (So.) and Cory Papastathis (Fr.), running 3:42.96. The Varsity 4 x 400 m relay team of Max Mitchell (Fr.), Kel Foley (Sr.), EJ Oketona (So.) and Patrick Hoffmann (Sr.) closed out the night with a 3rd place finish in 3:36.90.

While the team outcome may not have been all that we hoped for, we are shaking off some injuries and getting ready to qualify as many athletes as possible for the State Meet in two weeks. However, at this time, we should not just be looking at the near future, but the far future as well. Looking at the results above, we moved up six Frosh-Soph athletes to the Varsity level. This shows that our future seasons have the potential to be bright ones. Also, when you look at how many personal bests were set, we see that our training gets athletes ready at the right time of the season. Therefore, as we look forward, we know that some athletes are done competing for the season, but they need to continue to train. We welcome them to continue to train with the Sectional and State Teams and to really make progress over the summer in our summer camps. If you have not yet registered, please make sure to do so soon at our website below.

This past Friday, our top Varsity and Frosh-Soph teams competed in the Red Ribbon Invitational at Waubonsie Valley High School. The meet was originally scheduled for Saturday, but due to some great planning on Waubonsie Valley's part, the meet was able to be moved up one day, avoiding the cold, rain and snow that would occur on Saturday. The Frosh-Soph team took 2nd place, only half of a point out of first behind Metea Valley, showing that our Frosh-Soph team is making great progress just before the conference meet. Our Varsity team, still not at full strength, took 4th, only one point away from 3rd. Complete results from the meet are at the link below.

The meet began with a complete Neuqua Valley sweep of the top spots in the throwing events. Hunter Danton (So.) took 1st place in both the Frosh-Soph Shot Put and Discus with marks of 46' 8.25" and 143' 2" respectively. Both of these marks are personal bests for Hunter. Matt Appel (Jr.) would accomplish the same task at the Varsity level, winning both throwing events with marks of 55' 8" and 156' 0". Matt's mark in the Shot Put is now just inches away from the school record and is another personal best. Adding to the point totals from the throws were Elijah Darden (So.), who placed 3rd in the Frosh-Soph Discus with a personal best throw of 120' 0" and Jake Dauod (So.) in the Frosh-Soph Shot Put, taking 5th with another personal best of 39' 5.25". Jacob Remack (Sr.) took 5th in the Varsity Shot Put with a throw of 46' 4".

In the jumping events, Jailen Poole (So.) took 2nd in the Frosh-Soph Long Jump with a leap of 18' 8", which is a personal best. Jailen took a break from the Pole Vault this meet, but our depth in the Pole Vault showed through when Goutham Baskaran (So.) and Jonathan Martinez (So.) took 4th and 6th respectively at the Frosh-Soph level with vaults of 9' 8" and 9' 2". In the Varsity Pole Vault, we had identical scoring as we did in the Frosh-Soph, with Alex Kiefer (Sr.) and Trevor Lambert (Sr.) taking 4th and 6th places with marks of 13' 2" and 12' 8".

With the wind picking up, we started the events on the track and Vasant Fong (So.), Daniel Gutierrez (So.), Luke Suman (So.) and Luke Mennecke (So.) turned in nearly identical 2:11 splits in the Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay to take 2nd in a time of 8:47.01. The Varsity 4 x 800 m relay would face some stiff competition but Chris Keeley (Sr.), Michael Madiol (Sr.), Spencer Teske (Sr.) and Jack Orengo (Sr.) charged through to a time of 8:16.72, good enough for 3rd place and a season best. Vasant Fong would return about an hour later in the Frosh-Soph open 800 m to take 3rd in 2:10.14, a personal best. Michael Madiol would do the same at the Varsity level to take 4th in the open 800 m in 2:01.93, bettering his split in the relay.

The Varsity 4 x 100 m relay of Max Rivera (So.), Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.), Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.) and Christian Allen (So.) ran a season best 44.18 to take 6th against some tough teams. The same team returned in the 4 x 200 m relay with Max Rivera replaced by Michael Grawe (Sr.) and again took 6th in 1:33.27. Max Rivera also placed 6th in the 100 m dash with a time of 11.64. In the Frosh-Soph 110 m High Hurdles, Enoch Kim (So.) continues to improve and took 5th in 17.88.

In the Frosh-Soph 3200 m, Aidan Stone (So.) ran 10:16.26 to capture both 2nd place and a personal best. Nicholas Drechsler (Sr.) would also achieve an outdoor personal best in the Varsity 3200m, running 10:01.48 and taking 6th place.

As the night drew to a close, we were tired and cold, but despite this fact, our last relays of the night came through with some aggressive racing. Our Frosh-Soph 4 x 400 m relay team of Ethan Briones (So.), Ethan Thomas (So.), Brandon Do (So.) and Max Mitchell (Fr.) ran 3:48.01 to take 3rd place. For Ethan Thomas, this would be his second 400 m of the night as he took 3rd place in the open 400 m with a time of 54.59. The Varsity 4 x 400 m relay team of Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), EJ Oketona (So.) and Patrick Hoffman (Jr.) ran 3:31.32, a season best time, taking 3rd place.

We have just under two weeks before the DVC Championship Meet and now is the time to really focus on doing everything possible to get ready for a peak performance at the end of the season. Sleep right, eat right and train right and big things can happen in the next few weeks.

On that note, the Red Ribbon Invitational has always been the "Meet with a Message". The message being that of drinking and driving and the tragedies that our district has experienced as a result. As we move into next weekend and Senior Prom, we want all of our seniors to make positive decisions, not simply because it will help them perform at their best later, but so that we can see them safe and sound next Monday.

It was a cold, windy night at Downers Grove South High School on Friday as our Varsity team took a step forward, ready to end the season with a strong finish. The team took 3rd place at the Bob Cohoon Invitational and was within striking distance of Oak Park-River Forest and Minooka. Complete results from the meet can be found at the website below.

In an effort to simulate the State Meet, our throwers competed in back-to-back meets, competing both Thursday at the West Aurora Throws Meet and Friday at the Bob Cohoon Meet. Despite the tough schedule, Matt Appel (Jr.) was able to place 3rd in both the Shot Put and Discus. His throw of 52' 8" in the Shot Put is above the State Qualifying Mark and Matt was also able to throw 146' 10" in the Discus, despite a 30 mph head wind. That same wind was a crosswind in the Pole Vault, where Alex Kiefer (Sr.) took 3rd place with a jump of 12' 6".

Moving to the track, our 4 x 800 m relay team of Spencer Teske (Sr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), Michael Madiol (Sr.) and Michael O'Connor (Sr.) won the meet in an impressive fashion and with solid strategy in 8:25.58 as they battled the wind. Nicolas ran the fastest split in 2:02.3. With only about 45 minutes of rest, Nicolas and Michael O'Connor returned in the 800 m, where Michael placed 2nd in 1:58.16 and Nicolas placed 6th in a nearly identical time from the relay of 2:02.26. These would be solid marks without the wind! Michael Madiol would also return later in the meet in the 1600 m, where he took the lead in the last 100 m to win in 4:32.27. Michael was joined by Chris Keeley (Sr.) who continues his comeback and took 5th in 4:36.68. Matt Jett (Sr.), forging his own comeback trail, fought hard in the 3200 m and took 2nd in a time of 9:57.32 by running a very smart race.

Turning to the sprint events, Max Rivera (So.) continues to medal in the short sprints and took 6th in 11.39 in the 100 m dash. Max would run lead off on the 4 x 100 m and the 4 x 200 m relay. In the 4 x 200 m, Max was joined by Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.), Aditya Sathyaprakash (Sr.) and Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.) and took 2nd in 1:33.90, despite a pulled hamstring by Aditya where he still managed to finish the race. In the 4 x 400 m, Max Mitchell (Fr.), Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), EJ Oketona (So.) and Patrick Hoffmann (Sr.) took 3rd in 3:36.78, showing that our 400 m runners are starting to get into racing shape.

This meet began to give us a sense of what is possible at the end of the season, something that we discussed at our team meeting this past Wednesday. The end of the season is within sight and we need to take care of the little things (sleep, nutrition, technique, etc.) now more than ever if we want to make our own luck.

This upcoming week has two more chances to take another step with our meet at home on Monday and the Red Ribbon Invitational at Waubonsie Valley on Saturday. After that, we begin our march to the end with the Conference, Sectional, and State Meets!

The conditions at Minooka's SmithStrong Invitational were far from perfect. For most of the morning, it was cold and windy, despite the fact that the sun was out and trying its best to warm us up. Our lineup was far from perfect. We were missing some key athletes for a myriad of reasons, from injury to college visits. Therefore, this meet presented us with the opportunity to face some adversity and see what we were made of. Despite an 8th place finish at the Varsity level and a 5th place finish at the Frosh-Soph level, we left the meet with a sense of promise that we would be ready to answer the call at the end of the season. Out of 54 individual performances, our athletes set 27 personal bests and 6 season bests. In other words, over half of our team had their best outdoor performance ever! The conditions may not have been perfect, but many of our athletes rose to the occasion.

Complete results from the meet can be found at the link below. As you check the results, look for "PR" or "SR' next to the mark to see if you have a personal record or a season record.

There were quite a few special performances and medal winners at the meet. In the throws, ​Jacob Remack (Sr.) took 4th place in the Varsity Shot Put with a throw of 48' 4", marking a personal best. Martin Kiefer (Fr.) would also set a personal best in the Frosh-Soph Discus, taking 2nd place with a throw of 115' 5". Martin's older brother Alex Kiefer (Sr.) would take another 2nd place, but this time in the Varsity Pole Vault with a jump of 13' 2". The Frosh-Soph Pole Vault would see a pair of Sophomores, Jailen Poole (So.) and Goutham Baskaran (So.), tie for 5th place and set outdoor personal bests with jumps of 10' 2". In the Long Jump, Abood Armouti (Jr.) took 6th place at the Varsity level with a jump of 19' 3.5" and Ethan Thomas (So.) took 5th place at the Frosh-Soph level with a jump of 18' 9". Both of these jumps represent outdoor personal bests.

On the track, the Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay team of Daniel Gutierrez (So.), Luke Mennecke (So.), Kyle Kretovic (So.) and Vasant Fong (So.) took 4th place with a collective time of 8:53.90. Not long after this event, Stephen Smilie (So.) took 5th place in the Frosh-Soph 3200 m with a personal best time of 10:12.52. In the Varsity 3200 m, we saw the return of Chris Keeley (Sr.) after a long injury with Chris surpassing where he left off at the intra-squad meet, running 9:37.71 and taking 4th.

​The Varsity 4 x 100 m relay team of Max Rivera (So.), Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.), Christian Allen (So.) and Michael Grawe (Sr.) took 6th place in 45.21, showing a great improvement in the exchanges even with the new addition to Christian Allen to the team. Christian was moved to the Varsity team for this relay but also placed 2nd in the Frosh-Soph 100 m in a time of 11. 74 and 6th in the Frosh-Soph 200 m in a season best 24.09. Christian would also join Ethan Briones (So.), Daniel Shin (So.) and Jailen Poole (So.) in the Frosh-Soph 4 x 200 m relay where the team would take 6th, clocking 1:39.64. The Varsity 4 x 200 m relay team would also take 6th and with nearly the same squad as the 4 x 100 m relay, with Dan Wu (Sr.) replacing Christian Allen in the 3rd leg. The team ran 1:35.68 which is a season best considering a dropped baton at the Schaumburg meet.

In the middle distance events, the Frosh-Soph 800 m would showcase an up-and-coming middle distance runner, Ethan Thomas (So.) who ran a personal best time of 2:10.44 to take 6th. The Varsity 800 m would see Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) win the slow heat to take 5th overall in a season best time of 2:04.52. Michael Madiol (Sr.) ran a great last lap and had a great kick into the wind in the next heat to take 2nd in 2:03.05. Max Mitchell (Fr.) ran an impressive 400 m at the Frosh-Soph level and took 5th in 53.49, a personal best. Max was charging hard on the last stretch into the wind. Finally, despite the wind and the long day, our Varsity 4 x 400 m relay team of Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.), Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.) and EJ Oketona (So.) ran a season best time, even considering indoor and outdoor seasons, of 3:33.21 to take 5th.

This upcoming week is a busy one for us. We have an open meet on Monday, our Varsity team goals meeting on Wednesday, the West Aurora Throws meet on Thursday and the Bob Cohoon Invitational on Friday. Friday is the first Varsity-only invitational of the season and is our chance to show what the team can do. After all, the Conference Championship is only 4 weeks away, the Sectional Meet is only 5 weeks away and the State Meet is only 6 weeks away!

On Saturday, both our top Frosh-Soph and Varsity teams competed in the Mikias Tibebu Invitational Meet at Schaumburg High School. Our Varsity team took 3rd place and our Frosh-Soph team was invitational champions! This was a huge victory for our Frosh-Soph team and their first invitational victory in quite some time. Our younger athletes are starting to develop into serious competitors.

The meet began with the field events and some solid performances in the throws. Hunter Danton (So.) won the Shot Put with a throw of 41' 8" and also took 2nd place in the Frosh-Soph Discus with a mark of 112' 3". Hunter was joined by Martin Kiefer (Fr.), who was filling in for Elijah Darden (So.). Martin took 3rd place in the Frosh-Soph Discus with a throw of 104' 8". Matt Appel (Jr.) won both the Shot Put and Discus at the Varsity level. In the Shot Put, Matt threw 55' 0", which is past the State Qualifying Mark and in the Discus, Matt threw 152' 4', less than 2 feet from the State Qualifying Mark.

In the Frosh-Soph Pole Vault, Jailen Poole (So.) and Jonathan Martinez (So.) took 3rd and 4th respectively, with jumps of 9' 6". Jonathan would later place 3rd in the Frosh-Soph High Jump with a leap of 5' 2" and Jailen would take 5th place in the Frosh-Soph Long Jump with a mark of 17' 11.75". Jailen would also later anchor two relays, giving him a total of four events for the day. In the Triple Jump, Abood Armouti (Jr.) took 4th place with an outdoor personal best of 40' 5.5".

Moving to the running events, our Frosh-Soph 4 x 800 m relay team of Ethan Thomas (So.), Ryan Horn (So.), Kevin Saju (So.) and Sachin Fong (Fr.) took 2nd place in a time of 8:55.00. Our Varsity team of Jordan Matthews (Sr.), Michael O'Connor (Sr.), Spencer Teske (Sr.) and Kel Foley (Sr.) won the meet in a time of 8:22.71. Michael O'Connor would record an 800 m split of 1:59.3, the fastest of the day.

In our sprint relays, the Frosh-Soph 4 x 100 m relay team of Christian Allen (So.), Ethan Briones (So.), Jack Wharton (So.) and Jailen Poole (So.) would run 47.21 to take 2nd place. Later the meet, the same group would return in the 4 x 200 m with a serious determination not to lose again and won the meet in a time of 1:39.83. Our Varsity sprint relays experienced some exchange issues and have resolved to have them fixed for the next meet.

​Back to the distance events, Vasant Fong (So.) went wire to wire with Charlie Siebert from New Trier in the Frosh-Soph 3200 m, with Siebert just edging out Vasant for the win. Vasant's time of 9:53.86 would show that he is getting back to his old racing form. At the Varsity level, Matt Jett (Sr.) would return to invitational competition after injury with a time of 9:53.56 and 5th place. Quinn Kennedy (Jr.) took 6th place in 10:10.41.

In the Frosh-Soph 110 m High Hurdles, Paul Lee (Fr.) took 4th place in a time of 18.37 and Enoch Kim (So.) took 6th place in 19.32. The pair would later return in the 300 m Intermediate Hurdles with Enoch taking 2nd place in 46.11 and Paul taking 4th in 46.86. Before the meet, Paul was considering not competing because of a sore quadriceps muscle, but ended up placing in both of his events.

Besides both sprint relays, Christian Allen (So.) placed in both the Frosh-Soph 100 m and 200 m, taking 2nd in both, with times of 11.87 and 24.70 to round out an impressive day. Christian was joined in the 100 m dash by Max Mitchell (Fr.) who took 5th in 12.21. The Varsity 100 m featured Max Rivera (So.) taking 2nd in 11.73 and Aditya Sathyaprakash (Sr.) taking 4th in 11.76. Max and Aditya were also key members of both of our sprint relays.

The middle distance events were another place where our athletes scored big places. In the Frosh-Soph 800 m, Daniel Gutierrez took 2nd place in 2:10.76 and Luke Mennecke took 3rd in 2:11.32, adding 14 points to the total. Blake Storoe (Sr.) took 5th place at the Varsity level by winning the slow heat in a time of 2:05.53, which is a personal best for Blake. In the Frosh-Soph 400 m, Cory Papastathis took 5th place in 57.08. The 400 m at the Varsity level would see the duo of Kel Foley (Sr.) and Patrick Hoffmann (Jr.) double scoring 16 points by taking 1st and 3rd. Kel ran 51.33 and Patrick Hoffman ran 52.70, showing that these two athletes are quickly returning to racing form.

In the last distance event of the day, Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) would run an impressive 4:31.45 to win the Frosh-Soph 1600 m. He was followed by Leif Anderson (So.), taking 3rd with a huge personal best of 4:37.46. The Varsity 1600 m would see another event win with Michael Madiol's (Sr.) kick bringing him across the finish line in 4:21.55 which is under the State Qualifying Mark in this event. Nicholas Drechsler (Sr.) would take 5th in 4:41.56.

In the final event of the day, the Frosh-Soph 4 x 400 m relay team of Ethan Thomas (So.), Max Mitchell (Fr.), Ethan Briones (So.), and Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) would claim victory in 3:43.66. Ethan Thomas would end up competing in a distance event, a sprint event and a field event in the same meet, something that we have not seen on our team. For Ethan Briones, this would be his third event of the day and for Nicolas Dovalovsky, this event occurred only 20 minutes from the 1600 m. At the Varsity level, the team of EJ Oketona (So.), Aditya Sathyaprakash (Sr.), Michael Grawe (Sr.) and Kel Foley (Sr.) would take 3rd in 3:36.98. Aditya would record a split of 53.9 in his first ever Neuqua Valley 400 m and Kel Foley would record a split almost a second faster than his open 400 m. Michael Grawe and EJ Oketona would record outdoor personal best splits as well.

At the end of the meet, the sun was shining and we received a glimpse of what was to come in terms of weather and in performances from our athletes. We saw a young team start to come into their own. We are not there yet, but the marks are coming. Reflecting on the performances, it occurred to me that many of the athletes in this meet have committed to continuous improvement by training outside of the season. Whether it is through other sports or summer programs, we want to see all of our athletes commit to this same mission. Some of our athletes that were not part of invitational teams in the past have become part of them because of their dedication to training and improvement. The easiest way to do this is through our summer programs, which we will be discussing with our athletes this week. For more information and to register, click on the link below.

On Friday, we concluded our indoor season with the DuPage Valley Conference's Indoor Championship at the same place where our season began, North Central College. Our Varsity team took 2nd place with 107 points to Naperville Central's total of 137. Our Frosh-Soph team was 3rd with 74 points. Congratulations to Naperville Central on their victory! They certainly earned it with their impressive performances and competitive spirit throughout the night.

Given that this meet marked the first time that Neuqua Valley had not won the conference title since we joined the DVC, this meet left us disappointed as a team. However, as I said to the team on Friday night, it is what you do after a disappointment that matters the most. We have eight weeks to grow as a individuals and as a team and unlike in most sports, we have the opportunity to face the same teams again at the outdoor championship. Even at practice on Saturday, many of our athletes renewed their vow to improve and push themselves.

However, when you look closely at the results, disappointment is not the only feeling that we should have. Of the 75 Neuqua Valley performances on Friday, 46 individuals achieved personal bests, 3 of our relays set season bests and 1 school record was tied. When nearly two-thirds of your team performs better than they ever have, some things must be going well. Many of our athletes should be proud of what they accomplished on Friday, but the goal of improvement should continue to guide our athletes as they push themselves in the outdoor season.

The meet began with the field events and set us off to a good start. In the Shot Put, Hunter Danton (So.) won the Frosh-Soph level with a throw of 44' 7.5". He was followed by Elijah Darden (So.) and Jake Daoud (So.), who took 4th and 5th respectively with throws of 39' 10" and 39' 1". Matt Appel (Jr.) continues to throw among the top throwers in the State and won the Varsity level Shot Put with a throw of 54' 5". With a huge personal best, Jacob Remack (Sr.) threw 47' 8" to take 2nd place. This means that we double scored at both levels of this event.

In the Varsity High Jump, we achieved another double score, with Jared Malcolm (Sr.) taking 2nd place with a jump of 6' 1". KaLon Hale (Jr.), fresh off of basketball season, tied for 4th place with a jump of 5' 5". The double scoring continued into our other vertical jump, the Pole Vault, where Jailen Poole (So.) took 2nd place with a jump of 10' 2". He was joined in scoring by Goutham Baskaran (So.), who tied for 3rd place with a jump of 9' 8". In the Varsity Pole Vault, Alex Kiefer (Sr.) jumped 13' 8" to take 2nd place, while Trevor Lambert (Sr.) set a foot and a half personal best to take 3rd place with a jump of 13' 2".

The horizontal jumps would see more scoring and a number of personal bests. In the Frosh-Soph Long Jump, Ethan Thomas (So.) took 4th with a personal best of 19' 4.5" and Jailen Poole (So.) took 6th with another personal best of 19' 0.5". At the Varsity level, EJ Oketona (So.), jumped 19' 6.25" to take 6th place with yet another PR. EJ would secure another personal best in the Varsity Triple Jump where he jumped 42' 0", which is more than a 2 foot personal best and good enough for 6th place.

As we moved to the running events, our distance runners kicked off the meet with the 4 x 800 m relay. The Frosh-Soph relay team of Leif Anderson (So.), Daniel Gutierrez (So.), Luke Mennecke (So.) and Nicolas Dovalovsky (So.) took 2nd place with a time of 8:38.24. This means that our average runner in this race ran under 2:10. Vasant Fong (So.) would continue this trend in the Frosh-Soph 800 m where he would run 2:08.69 and take 6th place. The Varsity relay team of Jack Orengo (Sr.), Spencer Teske (Sr.), Jordan Matthews (Sr.) and Michael O'Connor (Sr.) took 2nd place and was less than one second per leg off of our season best time. Leif Anderson and Nicolas Dovalovsky would return later in the meet in the Frosh-Soph 1600 m, where they took 3rd and 5th place respectively with marks of 4:51.22 and 4:56.90. Spencer Teske and Jordan Matthews would also return in the Varsity 1600 m, where Spencer would take 4th place in 4:36.09. Michael O'Connor would also double as he came back in the Varsity 800 m, where he took 4th in a time of 2:02.69.

The distance events would continue with the 3200 m. At the Frosh-Soph level, Ryan Horn (So.) and Noah Schalliol (Fr.) ran 10:03.69 and 10:04.42 to finish right near each other in 3rd and 4th place. Aidan Stone (So.) took 6th place in 10:26.09. Michael Madiol (Sr.) and Nicholas Drechsler (Sr.) would both score for the team as Michael took 2nd in a time of 9:41.88 and Nicholas took 5th in a time of 9:55.96.

Moving to the sprint events, Donovan Turner (Sr.) tied his own school record in the Varsity 55 m High Hurdles that he set last week, winning the event in an time of 7.61 seconds. Later in the meet, Donovan would win the Varsity 200 m Dash in a time of 23.13 seconds. In the Frosh-Soph 55 m Dash, Christian Allen (So.) ran 6.91 to take 4th place while Max Rivera (So.) ran 6.78 at the Varsity level to take 3rd. Max came back in the Varsity 200 m Dash to take 6th in an time of 23.96. Having two Sophomores run this fast this early in the season is a sign of good things to come, especially since Max just joined us from basketball.

The Varsity 4 x 200 m relay team of Patrick Hoffman (Jr.), Max Rivera (So.), Aditya Sathyaprakash (Jr.) and Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.) ran with conviction to take nearly 2 seconds off of our Mustang Relays time, taking 3rd in 1:34.20. Patrick and Jonah would join Max Mitchell (Fr.) and Kel Foley (Sr.) in the Varsity 4 x 400 m, where they took 5th in 3:38.41. Kel would also take 5th place in the Varsity 400 m with a time of 52.65. In the Frosh-Soph 400 m, Ethan Thomas (So.) and Ethan Briones (So.) would take 5th and 6th respectively in times of 56.56 and 56.62, both personal bests. The duo would return in the Frosh-Soph 4 x 400 m with Jack Wharton (So.) and Christian Allen (So.) to take 5th in 3:52.81.

Pictures from the meet can be found at the website below. Thanks to Coach Yunk for taking them! Right now, you need to be logged in to your school account to access these.

As we move into the outdoor season, know that we are getting better every day but that we still have a great amount of work to do. The next two weeks will be without meets and are very important to our training. Be ready to work hard!

This was a busy week for Neuqua Valley Track and Field. We started the week with the Mustang Relays at North Central College and then ended with our athletes competing in three different meets.

The weekend started with Matt Appel (Jr.) competing in the Louis-Charles Throwastravaganza at Rolling Meadows High School. Some of the top throwers in the State were there to give their best in the Shot Put. On one his last throws, Matt posted up a mark of 55' 0.5", which broke the indoor school record. This record was one of the oldest on our books and was held by Babatunde "OJ" Oshinowo, who later go on to play in the NFL. Some of Matt's warm up throws show that he has even more distance to go during this indoor season.

Next, on Saturday, nearly all of our team competed at York High School in their annual open meet. As we near the end of the indoor season, it is encouraging to announce that we achieved 103 personal bests, which are listed below. As athletes examine their performances, they should ask themselves if they are improving. If not, what can they change to help themselves improve? Everyone should ask themselves the following questions.

Am I taking care of the "little things" like sleep, nutrition and water intake? These things may seem little, but they are how you fuel your body and help yourself recover.

Am I working hard in practice? Could I push harder on quality days? If you want the body to respond, it needs to receive a manageable level of stress. Pushing yourself in practice will also help you learn how to push harder in meets.

Am I working on the technical aspects of my event? Try to become a student of the sport. Resources are everywhere! Do you know the best people in the country or world in your event? Look it up and watch a video of them competing. You can learn from the best.

Am I avoiding injury? If so, what steps can I take to help this process? You need to take ownership of your body and make sure it is functioning properly.

Finally, we had one more meet with Neuqua Valley representation this weekend. Donovan Turner (Sr.) competed in the New Balance Indoor Nationals Meet at the Armory in New York City. Donovan was the only hurdler from Illinois to compete in the 60 m High Hurdles and broke the school record in the 55 m High Hurdles en route. (An en route record means that the result was recorded at 55 m even though the race was 60 m long. There were two FAT cameras to make this happen.) Donovan has rewritten our hurdles records several times over these past two years and it will be exciting to see which ones will fall next.

As we look ahead to the DVC Conference Championships this Friday, we need to make sure that we are getting plenty of rest and are ready to compete the best of our ability as we end the indoor season! We hope to see everyone at North Central College this Friday!

On Monday, our Varsity relays competed in Downers Grove South's Mustang Relays at North Central College. While everything did not go according to plan, all of our relays set season bests.

In the 4 x 800 m, we tried an experiment and put Donovan Turner (Sr.) into his first 800 m based on his impressive performances in the 400 m and the 300 m Intermediate Hurdles. Running lead off, Donovan ran 2:07.3, which ranks well among our team this season so far. The baton next went to Michael O'Connor (Sr.), who pressed hard for the entire race and set a huge personal best of 2:01.3 for his split. It was clear that Michael was on a mission during his race. Spencer Teske (Sr.) charged through his leg to a 2:04.0 split, which is just under his season best split. Finally, Michael Madiol (Sr.) finished off the relay with a 2:02.1 which is another season best and brought the team to a 10th place finish in a time of 8:14.80.

In the 4 x 200 m, the relay team of Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.), Kel Foley (Sr.), Aditya Sathyprakash (Sr.), and Donovan Turner (Sr.) ran 1:36.08, taking 12th place amid collisions, falls and congestion on the track. Donovan Tuner's anchor leg was the fastest indoor split in the 200 m that we have ever recorded and was so fast that we need to check the video to verify the result which was right around 22 seconds flat.

Ending the evening was the 4 x 400 m, and the team of Kel Foley (Sr.), Jonoh Covarrubias (Sr.), Max Mitchell (Fr.) and Donovan Turner (Sr.) took 9th place in 3:32.54. Kel took took out the race hard and his 200 m split was nearly as fast as his 4 x 200 m split. Next, Jonah ran in lane 2 as he kept trying to pass people and would not give up the position. As a freshman, Max was running in his first serious Varsity race and he did not disappoint, putting up a 54.0 split. Donovan closed out the night with a strong 50.9 split, his fastest of the season so far.

Some meets are just about getting a chance to compete and our meet last Thursday at Plainfield East was just that. Our entire team was able to either try for a personal best, try a new event or get in a rough workout by competing in some challenging combinations. Meets like this do not really have a story, so we want to simply recognize those athletes that achieved a personal best at the meet. For some, this accomplishment might be the result of trying an event for the first time. Also, please remember that these marks are indoor personal bests and please let me know if see any mistakes or omissions.

On Saturday, Alex Kiefer (Sr.) competed in Windy City Pole Vault Summit, which is an invitation only Pole Vault meet contested at Rolling Meadows High School. Against some of the best pole vaulters in the State, Alex took 6th place with a jump of 13' 9". Some of his early jumps had Alex well over the bar, showing what he is capable of achieving by the end of the season.

This upcoming week is a busy one for us. We have the Mustang Relays on Monday Night at North Central College for our top Varsity relays, Matt Appel (Jr.) competing at Rolling Meadows in a Shot Put only meet on Friday and the entire team at York this Saturday. We hope to see everyone at all of these events!

It has been nearly four years since Neuqua Valley competed at Batavia High School. When the school left the Upstate Eight Conference for the DuPage Valley Conference, we were leaving behind some years competing at Batavia for the indoor conference meet at a facility well known for its fast track and field event areas. To find ourselves back in Batavia was a pleasant surprise to say the least. However, as we competed there on Friday night, the pleasant surprises kept happening.

It started with the field events where Jared Malcolm (Sr.) returned to the team after a one year hiatus. When Jared was a sophomore, his best mark in the High Jump was 5' 7". Therefore, it was a little surprising when he decided to enter the event at 5' 6". Nine inches later, Jared would clear 6' 3" to win the event, set an 8 inch personal best and achieve a State Qualifying Mark. Another event victory would come from Alex Kiefer (Sr.) in the Pole Vault, where Alex cleared 13' 6" and was just shy of the 13' 8" State Qualifying Mark. The Triple Jump would see EJ Oketona (So.) and Abood Armouti (Jr.) take 3rd and 4th respectively with marks of 38' 4" and 38' 0". EJ and Abood would also put up solid 400 m relay splits later in the meet during the 4 x 400 m relay. Finishing off the field events was another event win with Matt Appel (Jr.) thowing 53' 7" in the Shot Put, which betters the State Qualifying Mark of 52' 8". However, Matt scratched a huge throw that showed that his best marks are ahead of him.

Moving to the track events, Michael Madiol (Sr.) took first place in the 3200 m with a time of 9:50.11, continuing the pattern that he set during the Cross Country season and showing that he has the range to run all of the distance events. He was followed by Vasant Fong (So.) and Aidan Stone (So.) placing 4th and 5th places with times of 10:15.47 and 10:20.31, which are both indoor personal bests for the 3200 m. After a long recovery from an injury, Aidan has shown that he is ready to race!

The 55 m High Hurdles promised to be another fast time for Donovan Turner (Sr.) and he did not disappoint. Running 7.65 seconds, he broke the field house record and the school record in this event. The previous field house record was held by Sam Conger of Batavia, who just beat Donovan in the 110 m High Hurdles at the State Meet last season. Donovan would then run the next race, the 55 m dash, and take 3rd in a time of 6.83 seconds. Jonah Covarrubias (Sr.) took 6th in the 55 m with a mark of 6.90 seconds and Christian Allen (So.) took 7th in 6.92 seconds. Later in the meet, Donovan and Jonah would team up with Kel Foley (Sr.) in the fast heat of the 400 m where they would take the top 3 positions. Donovan was first in 52.67, Kel was second in 53.16 and Jonah was third in 53.79. These three athletes will be three legs of a fast 4 x 400 m in some upcoming meets! This trio would later run the 200 m with Donovan again taking first in 23.66, Kel taking 8th in 24.40 and Jonah taking 12th in 24.54. Many of these marks were indoor personal bests.

Michael O'Connor (Sr.), fresh off of his Mr. NVHS win, took 5th in the 800 m with a time of 2:05.66. Jack Orengo (Sr.) took 7th in the same event with a time of 2:08.95, and both of these athletes put up indoor personal bests. Spencer Teske (Sr.) took 3rd in the 1600 m in an time of 4:34.91 and another indoor personal best. Jordan Matthews (Jr.) returned from a long injury to also record a personal best in a time of 4:48.93 in the 1600 m.

Complete results from the meet can be found at the website below. Athletes should review their marks and see if they achieved a personal best and then figure out what changes they need to make to continue their improvement.

If you look closely at the names listed above, many of these athletes are seniors. We know that we have a strong senior class. However, we have a good number of inexperienced athletes that need guidance and leadership from these seniors as they try to grow and improve. Some people think that leaders are born, but I would disagree. It takes practice and commitment to be a leader and people can get better at it. As we move into the latter part of the indoor season, I want to challenge our seniors to step up their leadership role. This is their team and the leadership that they give will determine where we go from here.

Our next meet will be at Plainfield East on Thursday! We hope to see everyone there!